


Let Them Talk

by luftschloss



Series: Bits and Shards and Pieces [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Genderbending, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-03
Updated: 2012-01-03
Packaged: 2017-10-28 20:21:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/311809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luftschloss/pseuds/luftschloss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wasn’t sure how this had happened. He wasn’t even sure what was going on. Right now, all he knew, was that the same thought, the same person kept occupying his otherwise so busy mind.</p><p>“You’re distracted, sensei.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Minato looked down into Kakashi’s brown eye and tried to smile. All he managed, however, was to curve his lips.</p><p>-- Minato might have romantic feelings for his friend Kushina. Possibly. Maybe. But then, you can't just fall for another guy like that, can you?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Them Talk

**I**

  
He wasn’t sure how this had happened. He wasn’t even sure what was going on. Right now, all he knew, was that the same thought, the same person kept occupying his otherwise so busy mind.

“You’re distracted, sensei.”

“Huh?”

Minato looked down into Kakashi’s brown eye and tried to smile. All he managed, however, was to curve his lips.

“Where’s Rin?” he asked the younger one, avoiding the stern look his student was giving him.

“Medical training,” Kakashi explained.

“Ah. Right,” Minato remembered. He looked around the training grounds. The sun had just risen, a few other teams were assembling in the nearby grounds. It was quiet, except for the hushed voices of the young ninjas and their teacher’s louder instructions.

“You were late today,” remarked Minato, his voice somewhere between playful and heavy.

“Yeah. I ...” Kakashi paused, as if trying to remember what to say, “I was carrying an old lady’s luggage,” he then finished.

This time, his teacher smiled. Weary, melancholic. “Is that so?” he asked with a barely audible sigh.

“Yeah,” the student replied firmly.

“Alright, then. Let’s get started.”

However, it didn’t get the younger one too long to corner his teacher.

“You’re distracted, sensei,” Kakashi simply repeated, as he withdrew the kunai from Minato’s neck.

And he was indeed. Minato hadn’t even been paying attention to the fight, merely responding out of habit to his student’s attacks.

“Sorry,” he sighed. He dragged a hand across his face, dark shadows under his eyes, his hair a bigger mess than it usually was.

Kakashi pocketed the weapon, scrutinizing his teacher’s face, his posture. Minato thought he saw something like worry in that brown eye before Kakashi turned away.

“I can train alone today,” he told the blond one, his voice neither harsh nor stern. And as Minato’s mouth opened to protest, he continued, “And I will.”

Minato sighed. When it came to stubbornness, that kid was almost as bad as – as – he preferred not to finish that thought. Once again, he smiled at his student. This time, however, the gesture was calmer, more genuine.

“Thank you.”

The boy shrugged, turning his back on him. Whatever it was, it had to be a big deal to confuse his teacher to that extent.

 

 **II**

 

 “Morning, kiddo,” Jiraiya bellowed.

“Sensei,” Minato replied with a warm smile on recognizing the voice, turning around to face his teacher, “Good morning.”

“You don’t look well,” stated Jiraiya, looking his former student up and down. “What’s wrong?”

Minato’s eyes widened; he quickly wrecked his brain for a plausible excuse. Nothing. He’d never been a good liar in the first place.

“Uh – I’m fine,” he replied meekly instead.

Jiraiya laughed.

“I can see that,” he replied, his laughter still echoing in the empty street. “Why aren’t you training?”

Minato chuckled. “My student sent me home,” he explained, a half-amused, half-guilty smile on his lips.

“How come you’re up so early, sensei?” he asked curiously.

“Got to leave on a mission,” Jiraiya explained.

“I see.” Minato paused for a moment. Then, with an unusual cheekiness in his voice, he asked, “How’d it go with Tsunade-sama last night?”

“Shut up, kid,” was all Jiraiya had to say, obviously both embarrassed and upset about the subject. “That ain’t none of your business.”

“I guess not,” he replied; amused.

“Kid,” Jiraiya began; his voice serious for once. “You really don’t look well.”

Minato sighed.

“Yes.”

They were silent for a moment, before Minato spoke again.

“I’ll be fine,” he told his teacher, trying to sound as confident as usual. “It’s nothing --” however, he fell silent, as he could not find a matching attribute. “It’s no big deal,” he finished instead.

Jiraiya shot him an incredulous look.

“Listen, kid, I gotta go now,” he told the blonde. “But I’ll be back in a few days. You take good care of yourself, will you?”

Minato nodded, smiling. “I will,” he replied, as reassuring as he could. “Good luck,”

 

 **III**

 

“You look like shit,” Kushina announced, sitting down in front of his friend, burying his face into his bowl of ramen whilst noisily slurping his noodles. “Seriously,” he added for emphasis, looking up from the rim.

Minato laughed. “As always, I appreciate your frankness,” he replied, separating his chopsticks from one another.

Kushina shrugged, taking another gulp of soup. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and Minato couldn’t help but glance at his hands, his lips. He quickly dropped his gaze on his plate.

“Man, work today was tiring. I swear to God, next time some fucking school class has the great idea to drop by, I’m gonna kill something. You know how much work it is to wait and cook for twenty fucking nine kids? In a place this small? With only half of the usual staff?”

Minato looked around the restaurant his friend worked in, had been working in for as long as he knew him. It was a small location, with room for no more than thirty, maybe thirty-five persons, widely renowned for its delicious food, particularly the variety of ramen they had to offer. He was still surprised to find that his friend never tired of eating noodle soup several times a day, every single day since he had begun to work there. “I can live off ramen and ramen only,” he had informed Minato the first day they had met and apparently, that was the case indeed.

He didn’t know much about Kushina, or his past. He seemed to be a few years older than Minato, but he had come to Konoha only about a year ago. After marauding around town for a while, he had somehow persuaded the owner to hire him. How exactly he’d done that, Minato did not know. However, he did know that Kushina was the most stubborn person he had met in his entire life. And that came from Jiraiya’s student and Kakashi’s teacher. From the hints and bits of information Kushina had dropped here and there, Minato could tell that his entire village had been destroyed during the war. He seemed to be one of the very few – if not the only – survivor. Apparently, Kushina had been wandering about the country until he came to Konoha which he had deemed to be safe, for whatever reason. Minato was well-aware of the flaws the story had, but he had decided to wait for Kushina to tell him the entire, true version.

However, at the moment, none of that was what was troubling him. He didn’t really care about Kushina’s possibly dark past (he figured he’d learn about it sooner or later). What did bother him, was how much thought he gave the strands of Kushina’s red hair that he kept blowing away from his eyes, until his friend brushed them back with a quick gesture. His hair had been fairly short when he had come to Konoha, but now the longest parts reached almost down to his shoulders. He rarely bothered to tie it back when he wasn’t working in the kitchen, and admittedly, the long hair suited him just too well.

Minato could not deny that he considered Kushina attractive. Admittedly, he was … well, good-looking, if not to say 'pretty.' He had noticed the looks some of the female customers shot Kushina when he passed by, stood by their tables to take their orders. It wasn’t only the way he looked – there was an all but childish mischief and self-confidence in Kushina’s gestures and manner that rendered him attractive. But none of that changed the fact that he was a boy. And that Minato was one himself.

Well, if he was completely and utterly honest to himself, it all came down to gender and to – as embarrassing this might be to admit – to what ‘others’ might say. He had lived long enough in that village and he was perceptive enough to know that being different and open about it, never led to being treated equally. It wasn’t a matter of confidence or acceptance; he just did not want to lose the respect and affection of those he valued. That and … well, he just had not expected to have this kind of feeling for a boy. Ever.

  
“What?” Kushina asked, noticing the strange looks his friend had been giving him.

Minato took a quick gulp of soup, almost choking on it.

“Nothing,” he replied quickly, hoping the blush he felt creeping up his cheeks was faint enough for Kushina not to notice.

The red-head shrugged, proceeded to empty his first bowl of ramen. He always ate two, at least. Minato didn’t know where he got the appetite, considering his … well, petite stature.

“How was training?” Kushina asked, bright green eyes scrutinizing the blond.

Minato chuckled. “Alright,” he replied.

“It sucked, huh?” his friend concluded.

“Well … yeah,” Minato admitted with a laugh. “Not Kakashi’s fault, though. He’s doing great, though it’s taking him a little effort to adjust to fighting with just one eye.”

Kushina nodded. “Bring those kids here more often”, he suggested, referring to both of Minato’s students, “Some company will do them well.”

And he rose to get another bowl of ramen.

“Yeah. I will,” Minato replied, watching him leave.

As he realized where his eyes were wandering off to, he quickly turned away. Fuck, this was getting uncomfortable.

Kushina returned, placing a plate with a slice of cake in front of his friend.

“Eat up,” he commanded as he sat down in front of his own bowl of ramen.

“Thank you.”

Minato felt that awkward sting run through his body as he looked down at the cake. Dark chocolate and strawberries. It was his favorite.

“Kushina,” he heard himself say all of a sudden, “you’re not seeing anyone, are you?”

They rarely talked about girls. Mainly because whenever Minato had touched the subject in the past, Kushina’s glares had all but killed him. Back then, Minato had simply concluded that his friend had had a few bad experiences. Quite frankly, Minato had preferred not to ask. Intensifying Kushina’s rage against something (or someone) was not exactly a wise thing to do, especially if you didn’t want him to rant about it for the rest of the evening.

Kushina set down the bowl of ramen, swallowing the last mouthful of soup. He wiped the grease off his lips with the bare back of his hand, giving his friend a curious look out of green eyes.

“No. Why d’you ask?”

“I don’t know,” Minato muttered for an answer.

“Really?” the red-head inquired, smirking.

Avoiding his eye, Minato just nodded. Kushina seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. Frowning, he looked up. He was resting his shin on his hand, that mischievous curve on his lips. Another quick look, then the red-head rose.

“Gotta go back to work,” he explained, taking his plate and leaving Minato to finish his cake on his own.

 **IV**

The only person to knock like that was Jiraiya, Minato thought that evening as the banging on his door grew increasingly loud.

“Coming!” he shouted, making his way to the entrance.

  
“Yo,” Jiraiya greeted his student nonchalantly, beaming. “I’m back.”

“That was fast. I’m glad you’re fine.”

“’course I am,” Jiraiya stated, as if Minato was to expect no less of him.

He made his way past his student, entered the kitchen and placed a bottle of sake on the little wooden table. Before Minato could react, he opened one of the cabinets and took out two little cups.

“And now you’re telling me what the hell’s been going on with you,” he ordered, and indicated the younger one to sit down in front of him with a nod, pouring some of the fine sake into the cups. “You’ve got half Konoha worried.”

Minato laughed. “You’re exaggerating, sensei.”

Jiraiya shook his head, raised his cup.

“To the Yellow Flash,” he said, before emptying it in one gulp.

Minato chuckled awkwardly.

“Now you talk, boy, or I’ll make you.”

The blond sighed.

“I can deal with this, sensei.”

“Of course,” Jiraiya told his student, his voice warm. “But it’s good to talk to others. Me, especially.”

Minato smiled at his teacher’s remark. Instead of replying, however, he took a sip of sake. He knew Jiraiya wouldn’t let him have more than two cups – his tolerance was too low for that. Despite his teacher’s numerous attempts to raise it.

“Is it Obito?”

Minato shook his head. Not that that didn’t bother him any longer, but … well, that wasn’t it.

“You worried about Kakashi?”

Another headshake.

“Rin?”

“No.”

“C’mon, kid. You gotta throw me a bone here,” Jiraiya replied, refilling his cup for the third time. He shot Minato a careful look before continuing. “Love, maybe?”

Something in Minato’s face responded. “… yes.”

Jiraiya laughed.

“Damn, she’s gotta be one hell of a girl to have you like this.”

Minato looked up, not knowing whether to glare at his teacher or to laugh at the irony.

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” he told his student, confident, “I’m sure she’d be damn happy to have you.” There, he paused for a moment, frowning. “But you know that.”

Minato’s smile twisted a little. “Yeah.”

“What’s the trouble, then? She taken?”

“No.”

The blond took a deep breath. He looked up, finally catching his teacher’s eye.

“The trouble is … it’s not a girl, sensei.”

It took Jiraiya a few minutes to digest that.

His eyes widened as he understood, narrowed again as he scrutinized his students face to make sure Minato wasn’t possibly joking. He took a gulp of sake, choked on it, coughed, calmed down again, took another gulp. Then, he caught his student’s eye. Minato was blushing, deep red. There was something in his posture Jiraiya had never seen before.

The teacher took a breath or two, then spoke.

“So what?” he asked, his voice as warm as ever.  
In an attempt to drink, Minato almost dropped his cup. He quickly caught it when he felt it slide through his fingers – more out of reflex than of presence of mind – and placed it before him.

“It’s not like there’s anything I could do ‘bout it,” Jiraiya continued as he watched his student’s unusually clumsy movements.

“Besides, love’s love and all that,” the older one declared, emphasizing his statement with an unceremonious gesture.

The blond ignored the clear liquid spilt over his hand, his sleeve and the dark wood of the table; he looked up at his teacher, his posture relaxing a little.

Jiraiya smiled at him, seized the bottle he had placed between them and refilled Minato’s empty cup with a nod before serving himself. The blond took it up, tilted it in one of his hands, watched the liquid follow his finger’s movements.

Minato sighed and took a gulp of sake – he had to admit, his teacher had great taste when it came to alcohol – then straightened his back as he swallowed. As he looked up at Jiraiya, his lips curled into a confident smile.

“Thank you, sensei.”

 

 

 **V**

 

“Hey,” he said, taking a step towards Kushina.

“Oh, hey,” the red-head replied, smiling at him. “You waiting for me?” he asked, looking around the empty street. It was one in the morning, the time Kushina’s late shift at the restaurant ended. He turned around to lock the door.

“Yeah,” Minato replied, noticing the pale skin of Kushina's neck under his ponytail. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Go ahead.” the red-head replied, turning to him.

Minato flashed a nervous smile at his friend. He took a breath or two and, as he finally spoke, his voice was as clear as ever.

“Go on a date with me, Kushina.”

Something like a blush (but not a blush, for Kushina did _not_ blush) painted the red-head’s cheeks. He caught Minato’s eye. Bit his lip. A moment’s hesitation.

“Okay,” he finally said with a short nod. “Alright.”

His lips twisted into the smirk Minato had grown to like so much.

“Your treat, though,” Kushina added.

Minato’s smiled widely; so relieved. He could feel the blood in his veins again.

“Sure,” he replied.

Kushina started to walk, and Minato followed. The silence between them wasn’t heavy, nor uncomfortable. Yet, something lingered in it. With a sigh, and a deep red blush, Kushina stretched out his hand, and grabbed Minato’s. A little too sudden. A little too tight. Minato returned the pressure – nervously. Eagerly.

“Fuck what people think,” Kushina murmured. “Fuck them all.”


End file.
